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Safety & Quality

Our Construction Safety Commitment

Safety is the first and foremost thought in everything The Great Lakes Construction Co. does. It is our first core value and our first goal stated on our Corporate Mission Statement. We value construction safety as a core behavior, valuing our employees' safety not only at work, but also at home. No task is ever started without taking the time to analyze safety concerns. This process is carried to the home environment where family is integrated in the safety process. Our symbol of the safety triangle is visibly posted on every piece of equipment, hardhat and paperwork and serves as a reminder that safety is paramount and is the corner stone of our company. We are committed to providing a safe and healthful workplace for our employees and their families.  Everyone at Great Lakes firmly believes and upholds the Zero Accident and Zero Injury philosophy within our company, believing that every accident and injury is Preventable. Furthermore, we will strive to successfully embed this philosophy with each of our families, owners, subcontractors and others that may work with The Great Lakes Construction Co.

Great Lakes safety program has received the following recognition:

  • Three Time AGC of America Willis Award National Winner
  • Member of Cleveland Safety Forum OSHA Alliance
  • OSHA Elite Contractor
  • OSHA Voluntary Protection Program Challenge Graduate
  • Ohio Contractors Association Jerry Keller Award Winner
  • Safety Incentive Program Winner
  • Liberty Mutual National Golden Fleet Award
  • EHS Today – 2013 America’s Safest Companies Award Winner

Construction Safety is deeply embedded in the cornerstone of Great Lakes Construction's philosophy and will continue to grow. The Great Lakes Construction Co. does not just preach safety. We live it. This is self evident as a recognized OSHA Elite Contractor, 3 time national award winner, and a VPP Challenge graduate while carrying an incident rate far below the national average.

Click here to view our awards and achievments.

  • WILLIAM HOCEVAR, CSP, CIH
    Director of Risk & Compliance

    Email

CEA Construction Safety Day 2025 Recap

Great Lakes Operating Standards System

Our diversity in the construction industry has allowed The Great Lakes Construction Co. to expand our footprint to include 6 different states. To ensure that each owner in each location is provided a quality product, Great Lakes implemented the Great Lakes Operating Standards System (GLOSS) in accordance with ISO 9001:2015. ISO 9001 is the international standard that specifies requirements for a quality management system (QMS). Great Lakes uses this standard to demonstrate the ability to consistently provide products and services that meet customer and regulatory requirements.

GLOSS covers all processes that are required to support the provision of construction services to the private and public sectors.  Great Lakes' Senior Management Members oversee and regularly review the compliance and effectiveness of Great Lakes Construction’s performance relative to GLOSS and its corporate goals.

For the past several years, Great Lakes has been independently certified as ISO 9001:2015 compliant.  This proves that Great Lakes is committed to continually review and improve our processes and products to minimize any adverse safety, health, or environmental impacts.

Our review process has provided us with an innovative method to meet the requirements of our owners, OSHA, EPA, and the construction industry standards, norms, and best practices.  These processes are designed to build the framework for worker safety, health, and quality programs through the involvement of all employees. Great Lakes' goals are to provide employees with a safe workplace, protect the environment outside the workplace, and provide Great Lakes' customers with quality products by understanding and adhering to these management system standards.

Our customers benefit from the strength of our experience, capabilities, and management of risk. They know that our core competencies mean they can count on us to deliver quality projects, each and every time.

Great Lakes’ core competencies allow us to move a project effectively from an engineering drawing to a site excavation, dam, highway, or bridge. This foundation has given us rock-solid support in taking the lead on safety issues and creating a workforce with one of the best safety performance records in the industry.

The Great Lakes Construction Co. is committed to meeting and exceeding our customer’s expectations in all aspects of its operations through the implementation of GLOSS. We resolve to achieve and sustain a reputation for excellence in the construction industry through innovation combined with a proactive approach to providing quality products and services to our customers.

OSHA VPP Challenge Pilot Program

In our quest for ZERO incidents, Great Lakes Construction has enrolled into and completed the OSHA VPP Challenge Pilot Program. This program enhances our safety culture and philosophy through management leadership, worksite analysis, hazard prevention and control, and safety health and training. Working together, we can educate our employees to eliminate worksite hazards and reach our goal of ZERO incidents.

1 Million Hours Without Lost Time

Great Lakes Construction recently celebrated one million hours without a lost time injury! This is a major milestone for us, and a true display of the dedication of our most valuable resource – OUR EMPLOYEES. Our safety success is not accomplished solely from our policies and procedures, but from the follow-through of our talented, trained, and experienced workforce. Our management team is fully committed to our program, which is administered by a staff of four, and carried out through our project superintendents to all of our field personnel. Each day, each task, our crews huddle together to discuss all existing and potential hazards that may arise, and how they will eliminate or control those hazards prior to going to work.

Great Lakes receives 2020 ARTBA National Contractor Safety Award

]The Great Lakes Construction Co. was recognized for outstanding employee safety programs during the American Road & Transportation Builders Association’s (ARTBA) National Convention in October 2020. The annual ARTBA “Contractor Safety Awards” were created to promote worker safety and health as core values of the transportation design and construction industry.

Based on Great Lakes' accident and injury rates on work sites as reported to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), our outstanding Experience Modification Rates (EMRs), along with our demonstration of key principles of safety excellence including management commitment, employee participation, incident investigation, auditing, planning and risk assessment, Great Lakes took top honors in the Award division representing 500,001-1 million work hours.